This week, a discussion of the alcohol levels in wines. Here’s why it’s worth discussing with your customers. [level-members] Summertime, and the living is easy. So should the drinking be, as we’re more likely in the summer to perhaps enjoy a chilled white or rosè outdoors while the sun is still shining. But there are […]
Archive for August, 2013
What They’re Reading – Alcohol Levels in Win
August 15th, 2013Mobile Apps to Help Your Retail Wine Custome
August 14th, 2013The web has been a disruptor in a lot of industries, and certainly retail, including wine sales, has felt those changes as much as any industry. The rise in popularity of mobile technology – smartphones and tablets – has only increased the pace of change. And while these changes can certainly be a threat, there’s […]
Retail Wine Business – Minimizing Theft Without Overdoing
August 13th, 2013You are going to lose some inventory to theft, whether shoplifting or staff. There’s simply no way around it no matter how tight a ship you run. How can you minimize the damage? Here are some ideas. [level-members] Top of the list is a solid inventory system. If you don’t know what you have, you […]
Retail Wine Industry News – More Bad Weather in France Will Affect Wine Prici
August 12th, 2013With Burgundy still reeling from its own weather-related adversity, Bordeaux now has to contend with a disastrous hailstorm. [level-members] A 10-minute hailstorm struck Bordeaux affecting approximately 50,000 acres of vineyards. Some vineyards have been left without any crop to speak of. Wine production for the next two years will be affected. Prices certainly can be […]
Food and Wine Pairing – Garden Fresh Salads and Whites or Re
August 9th, 2013Forget the old saws about salad and wine feuding rather than pairing up in a friendly way. You can have a great salad and a delicuious wine to go with it. [level-members] Yes, vinegar can be a tough partner, but considering how far salads have come from mere afterthoughts or palette cleansers, all the additional flavors […]
What They’re Reading – Wine Spectator of 9/30/
August 8th, 2013Wine Spectator promises the flavors of Italy with wines to match, a look at 2010 white Burgundy and Rye’s renaissance. [level-members] First, the front of the book. I loved the letter complaining about the wines WS reviews that are produced in tiny amounts. As the letter says, “… you have 3 million readers. What are […]
Retail Wine Marketing – Virtual Wine Tastin
August 7th, 2013Some things can’t be done virtually, right? Like, for instance, wine tasting. Apparently, that’s no longer true. [level-members] We read recently of a “Virtual Wine Tasting” program from the folks at Total Wine & More. It happened about a month ago and was conducted via in-store streaming video. Total Wine is a multi-location wine retailer, […]
Retail Wine Shop Business Tip – Winning Merchandise M
August 6th, 2013One of the most important contributors to your success is how well you stock your shop to match what your audience wants. Here are some tips. [level-members] Most obviously, you can’t stock nothing but Yellow Tail and Two-Buck Chuck if your audience is hedge fund managers and titans of industry. Similarly, first-growth Bordeaux is not […]
Wine Industry News – Amazon’s Rock and Roll Wine Pro
August 5th, 2013Don’t you associate rock and roll more more with beer and booze than wine? Amazon.com doesn’t think so. [level-members] Or, at least they think you’re open to the idea of positive association between Keith Richards and wine. Amazon is running a contest where the grand prize is a Keith Richards-signed guitar. I guess this is […]
What They’re Reading – How To Drink Wine Without Opening the Bott
August 1st, 2013Here are two ways to drink wine without opening the bottle. One is super high tech, the other is likely to get you punched in the neck. [level-members] This gizmo, the Coravin Wine Access System 1000, let’s you “open” your wine without pulling the cork. A thin tube punctures the cork (and the capsule from […]